Your Flaws Are My Perfection
by Dark and Death
Summary: Marinette is a certified young veterinarian and friend to cat cafe owner, Alya, and her boyfriend Nico. When Alya begs Marinette to aid a poor black cat, she simply can't refuse. Little does Marinette know that this cat is actually famous super model Adrien Agreste. They grow attached, but when tragic accident leads to the loss of limbs in the poor feline, a long road to recovery.
1. A Penny for Your Thoughts

"For the last time. _No_ , Alya."

"Oh come on, Marinette! You simply must see him! The poor thing's so cute, and we just got him from the pound a few days ago."

"You know how I feel about cats Alya, and you own a cat cafe!" Marinette countered, the cell phone pinched between the crevice of her neck and shoulder as she rushed to organize the last of her papers, scattered in a mess across her home desk.

"Oh, don't you pout at me, Ms. Veterinarian. Aren't you supposed to be able operate on all animals?"

"Just because I operate on them doesn't mean I like them!"

"Oh come on, _please_ Marinette! Just for a little while…! I'm starting to get worried. It's been three days and he hasn't even come around. The other cats adore him but all he wants to do is sulk in a corner and stare at the dried paint on the walls. He doesn't engage any customers and barely eats! I need a doctor Marinette! I cat doctor!"

Despite how she hated to admit it, Marinette simply couldn't turn down a friend in need, no matter how trivial their requests. She sighed, finally acknowledging her defeat. The vet could almost feel her best friend smiling against her ear through the phone.

"Alrighty fine, you just want a free vet check up don't you?" And so rolled her blue bell eyes.

"Maybe…?" Alya chuckled nervously.

"Okay, I'll be there in a couple of hours alright? Your cafe closes at 6:00pm right?" She arranged, pulling her schedule planner out of her drawer and monotonously etching in the appointment in pen.

"Correct-amon-do!" Alya cheered.

"Good to hear, see you in a jif then!" Just as the young veterinarian was about to hang up the phone, her friend's voice stopped her.

"Oh, and Marinette, I am really worried about him… He's scrawny and skinny to the bone. He's depressed Marinette, and I've tried to cheer him up with all the food, treats, and toys in the world but nothing seems to work."

Marinette felt Alya's words tugging at her heartstrings, the strung sad tone causing her lips to involuntarily quiver before she composed herself once more from the slight jarring.

"… I'll do what I can Alya, I promise." She declared, surely but softly in her own sympathetic way.

"Thanks, Marinette. I owe you one."

"Hmm, does that 'one you owe' come in the form of a free drink?" She snickered, once again recovering her humor from the past discussion. After all, Alya was her best friend even after all these years. Even though it was normal, she couldn't help but detest the way she would sometimes unconsciously put barriers between her companions, a doctor's professionalism she supposed. But this was a favor, and definitely not a serious case that needed surgery or stitching. So, breaking down her own walls, her resolve resumed.

"Haha! Gurl, I'll treat you to a whole _meal_ on the house if you can manage to fix this kitty up for me!"

"Alrighty, I'll be there in a bit then!"

The vet sighed after hanging up. And this was supposed to be her leisurely day off from a week of strenuous work. "Hah… Guess that spa treatment will have to wait then."

It didn't sound like a large, urgent case, but none the less, the raven haired girl found herself packing her medical duffel bag with over the counter pills, fluid injections, vitamins, gauze, bandages and other first aid essentials for her little patient. She didn't have any cat treats on her, but she thought perhaps a little meal of salmon would work wonders for a tricky feline stomach. She packed it raw, after all, the cafe did have a kitchen. And with her stuffed duffel, she hopped into the SUV and started up the engine with an inclining inquiry in the back of her mind. Why was she getting so excited over a cat of all things?

. . .

A knock tap danced across the door.

"Ah! She's here!" Alya squealed, moving a plump, little white Persian from her lap and into Nino's stuffed arms, already meowing with duo of cuddling shorthairs.

"H-Hey!" Come on, I'm juggling three kittens here now!"

"Nah-ah, I have to be the one to greet our very special guest, you stay here and continue feeding them for a moment." She ordered with the flick of her wrist. Nino rolled his eyes, but none the less continued drizzling dry food onto the large trays of food and mashing the canned tuna in with the mix as the cats started swarming into the cafe's kitchen.

Alya jogged to the door, unlocking it before swinging it wide open.

"Marinette! Good to see you, gurl!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around the collar of her best friend."

"Good to see you too, Alya." She returned the embrace with tight hug of her right arm while clutching the duffel bag in her left hand. "So, where is the little guy anyway?"

"Ah, come on follow me." She urged, tugging her along into the lounge. It was indeed a cat and cat lover's paradise with rug metropolises everywhere stacked to almost kiss the ceiling. Spiral cat staircases travelled up and down the floors as well as many paths of tunnels and platforms that zigzagged and crisscrossed throughout the ceiling and room. Cat toys were scattered like debris everywhere like a pet store explosion on the pastel carpeted floor along with pillows and miniature cushions knocked off the cloth sofas and chairs.

"Ugh, sorry about the mess, we just closed up shop, so just watch your step for now." Alya apologized.

"No problem," Marinette nodded, tiptoeing across the obstacles in a similar fashion behind Alya, although thankfully her friend made a little way for her by kicking some of the soft toys away from the beaten path.

"Here kitty, kitty kitty~" Alya cooed, clapping her hands near the floor.

"Where are all the other cats? I was kind of expecting a little ambush like on opening hours." Marinette giggled.

"Oh, they're just with Nino, he's feeding them currently."

"Alya, he's a prosthetist, not a cat care giver." Marinette scolded.

"He's also my boyfriend, and my boyfriend's job is to take care of me as well as my lovely cats that please the customers." She countered, which no doubt earned a sigh from the young vet.

"Agh, here he is… He hasn't budged since morning." Alya crouched over a small feline bed blanketed over with a soft black, pashmina cloth, pulling it back to reveal a very frail, very scrawny black cat. Marinette gawk at its smooth ebon pelt nestled deep inside the cocoon of warm wool. A beautiful, pure, and flawless darkness that spread across his pelt was, she had to admit, enchanting. He was a lean and lithe shorthair cat and when her friend lightly tapped the kitty awake, a pool of hypnotic emerald eyes slowly peered behind the heavy, lazed curtains. However, the protruding ribs and shallow breathing stole her attention and she became aware that this animal did indeed need her help.

"Poor guy," She commented, settling her duffel bag to the side of his bed. Marinette and Alya switched their positions so that now the dark haired girl was the one sitting crisscross directly in from to the cat while her brown haired friend peered over from behind. "Hey there little guy, I'm Marinette." She greeted, extending her hand towards him, limp and slightly curled with palm facing downwards and offering her middle finger first as a nose of some sorts. He blinked slowly and his nose twitched taking a good sniff of her extended limb before finding comfort in the scent and closing his eyes. He was to weak to act upon her advances, but she could tell that he desired to return the greeting so she softly ran his fingers over the cat's crown and rubbing under his chin. And to her delight, a small hoarse purr escaped his vocals, rumbling her fingers before she retracted them.

"Oh my god, Marinette! Look at that, he really must like you! Nino and I have worked with him from the day we adopted him from the pound and he never, I repeat _never_ , opened up or even purred at us like that." Alya gasped.

"Hehe, I'm kinda surprised too, normally cats don't really like me too much, plus I guess they kinda scare me with all that hissing and scratching." She giggled.

However frail he appeared, Marinette was glad to see that he was not emancipated, deducing his response to her as a positive sign. She drew out her stethoscope from the duffle pinching her ears with ear tip before gently placing the diaphragm against the cat's chest before sighing in relief.

"Well his vitals seem to be steady, so I'm just gonna conduct a few more little procedures before I prescribing him anything." Marinette smiled toward a beaming Alya whom hurried back to help a Nino in need inside the kitchen once she was given the okay from her friend.

Marinette did all that she could, checked his pupils with a precision light, felt over his skin for any pests, rashes, or bumps even double checking his dental to see if he had a tooth ache. The feline didn't seem to be complaining and at first thought to be bad sign, Marinette soon realized that he was allowing her to do this after reacting to being injected some nutritional fluids into his arm.

"Shh… You're okay kitty…" She soothed, gently cupping a trembling paw in her palm as she slowly eased in the rest of the serum. He was looking at her with a gaze that even Marinette could not explain. It was half lidded and lazed with purrs, surely if one could it could translate onto a human expression she had no doubt that it would reflect a dreary, but content smile. The expression was so _human_ to her that the raven haired lady couldn't help but return the smile with a light, innocent chuckle. "Silly kitty, you'll be coming around soon, don't you worry."

At some point in time, Marinette found herself softly massaging the black cat in the middle of her lap. Well… It was really just another check up test, her fingers expertly probing and prodding at certain vital points that would hopefully tell her more about his condition. Much to her curiosity, he was purring throughout the entire time, clearly taking this as more of a treatment than an exam and purred his heart away in her gently caresses and kneading.

"Well, you two seem to be enjoying yourselves~"

"Ah-!" Marinette flinched at Alya's voice like a boom mic directly behind her, she whipped her head around just for reassurance before sighing at her friend leaning against the door frame. "You scared me, Alya!"

"Oh, don't mind me interrupting your private time with your lucky boy~" She drawled, winking her chocolate brown eyes.

"Oh! Hey Marinette, good to see you!" Nino joined the room from behind Alya, the two coming around to sit beside her, Nino settling down near her left side while Alya perched with her legs tucked underneath her on her right.

"Good to see you too, Nino." She chuckled, smiling to her friends on either side of her. "Where are all the other cats in your care?" She inquired

"Ah, they're all asleep in their beds now, didn't want them to disturb this poor fella here." Nino stated. "So how is the little guy?"

"Honestly, everything seems to be fine." Marinette stated. "He's not sick or anything like that. It might be a strange deduction, but I just thing his eating and behavioral problems just as o do with stress."

"Hah! So even cats can go through emotional angst, that's hilarious!"

"Alya…" Marinette scolded, frowning at her tease. In times like these, it was easy for the raven haired to feel almost parental when paired with the maturity of her two best friends, but they did make a perfect, rather enthusiastic pair together she had to admit.

"But it is amazing how he can just curl up in your lap like that, before we would end up in a scratching contest whenever I went to pick him up to hug him." Nino laughed.

"Same," Alya agreed. The little black bundle of fur indeed started to come around. Perking up his head, his ears twitched and flickered to the sound of foreign voices beside him that didn't come from the warm lap that he was curled upon.

"Oh, look who's finally awake~" Alya grinned, clucking at the cat while giving a good rub behind his ears, surprised to hear a pleased purr rather than a claw to he face. "Marinette my girl, you must've used magic or something."

"Huh? U-Um, why would you say that?" The vet giggled sheepishly as Nino plucked a little feather toy from the carpeted floor and baited it over the black cat. And the feline found himself with his back against her lap, pawing at the dangling feathers albeit with sluggish reflexes, but a clear joy in his eye.

"God Marinette, you sure are a miracle worker! Before this, he would've never allowed us to even pet him let alone play with him," Nino thanked, enticing the kitty enough with the colorful array of feathers enough to roll off Marinette's lap and onto the cushioned floor. She chuckled as the impact left him in disarray for a few seconds before once again being distracted by the dancing bundle of feathers in his face.

"I've actually got some raw salmon in here," She reach over, fishing the container of meat from the white parcel. "Do you guys mind if I borrow the kitchen?" She smiled goofily, almost guiltily if one were to ask a seemingly an impolite favor.

"Nah, not at all, go ahead! I was wondering whether or not the picky kitty would come around to your cooking skills Marinette~" Alya allowed, shooing her off towards the culinary room while she and Nino remained on the floor to keep the recovering kitty company.

As soon as Marinette was in the kitchen, she immediately went to work as she grasped the handle of a nearby pan and lighted the stove above it. The raw piece of meat needed no dressing, besides it was silly to feed a cat fancy herbs and spices that could derail the appeal of the meal through a sensitive nose. With the palm-sized portion sizzling on the metal, she gracefully covered the pan with its fitted lid and waited.

"Alert! Alert! Incoming kitty at 9 o'clock!" Alya announced, her hands forming a mock megaphone speaker with her hands so that her 'alert' echoed around the white-walled kitchen. Nino peered around behind her back with both hands on her shoulder as they crouched to observe the tipsy kitty waltzing his way over to the black-haired vet. Hobbling on his thin, ebon stilts, his green eyes attempted as hard as ever to lock onto her bluebell gaze, averting his gaze only to the floor to aid his wobbly balance. Marinette suppressed a giggle behind her wrist as she awaited the arrive of her noir knight whom swayed in and out of a straight line as he staggered towards her legs. Such blue bell eyes were certainly amused, although Marinette also found it really quite comical to play hard to get with this cat, pretending to only acknowledge his presence when he had finally made it to the twin towers of her legs. And then came the irresistible wanton gaze of deep peridot green pleading into her soul and a soft forepaw that clawed incessantly at the skirt of her jeans.

"Hah… Okay, silly kitty come here," She relented with a sigh, gently plucking the light heap of feline off of the hard kitchen floor and into the bed of her arms. And so came the endless string of purrs that erupted from his throat, nurtured by the warmth of her chest.

"~Can you feel, the love tonight~"

"Oh my gosh, Alya, no!" Marinette shrieked. The couple erupted in laughter in the corner before finally catching their heaving breaths and joining her space in the kitchen.

"Haha! You should've seen it! As soon as you left he was like 'Huh? Where oh where did the love of my life go?' It was hilarious!" Nino chuckled with his hands as his waist.

"Nah, you're just a little flirt, aren't you?" She rolled her eyes at the cat curled into a comfy bundle atop of her chest happily purring his heart his away with his eyes comfortably lidded. She playfully tapped her small fingers across the skull of the feline, earning her a single, half-opened curious eye and wha she could only describe as a smirk, to her limb before it closed again and the purring ensemble continued once more.

"Does he have a name yet?" Marinette inquired, stroking the of his soft coat while supporting his weight in her left.

"Nope. Since he was a recent addition, I don't think they even bothered to name him. That, and he hasn't even been neutered yet. Can you believe it?!" Nino scoffed.

"Hmph, some pound." Marinette said. "Does he have a name?" She asked.

"Nope! Since we knew you were going to take such good care of him, we're letting you decide on a him for him, Marinette!" Alya offered. Her dear friend chuckled, raising raven brow all the while smirking.

"Hmm…" She contemplated, deep in thought all the while looking down upon the slumbering noir pelt. "Noir… Chat Noir…"


	2. An Adventure in the Night

Adrian couldn't help it; She was enchanting. Her hair as dark as midnight and lovely bluebell eyes, and her scent like eden's garden. A Ladybug among the pale blossoms, his sacred heroine amidst the chaos of evil.

She visited him everyday after her first visit. She'd cook him delicious fresh foods and pamper him with soft strokes and gentle cuddles every night after work hours. Slowly, he began to warm up to his surroundings, acknowledging the touches of the famed customers that Alya allowed to walk though the maple doors. Yet, even as he regained his sturdy frame and rebuilt his lithe muscle with the work of her remedies, he still graced no one's lap but Marinette's. Adrien wanted to be hers just as much as he wanted her to belong to him. He had no explanation, just that it felt right to be by her side. He felt his heart surge in her presence and shatter in her absence and although Adrien was all his life, alone, without her brilliant spring lights he was punished every night by the shadows of his own past.

He clung close to that scent of synergetic spring blooms that afternoon. It was still opening time and customers swam through the doors, wading through all the colorful rooms and greeting all of the adoptable residents within the cafe. Drinks and confectionaries were being served on the tops of chic polished silver trays by a few dedicated care takers to the relaxing guests. And as small latte cups were deposited onto the table, Adrien made no move to steal a sip for his own, too busy indulging in the warm lap of the spring ladybug herself.

"So, what is it you wanna tell me, gurla?" Alya asked, the owner of the cafe herself was sitting across from the small, rounded walnut table, taking her sweet sips of hot coffee as she eyed the veterinarian with her spectacles.

"Well, um… You see, Alya, I…" Marinette hesitated. There was no easy way to tell her this. "Since Chat's all better now, I think my job is kinda done here, don't you think?" She winced upon looking up from the fine furs of ebon pelt to the quizzical expression riddled across the face of her bespectacled friend. "I mean, you have to admit, there's really no reason for me to be here now Alya. Noir is completely recovered and looks very healthy now. I'm sure he'll be fine and happy with you taking care of him from now on and I just don't see why you keep requesting me to see him." The brown and auburn haired female very slowly placed down her steaming ceramic cup and crossed her arms and Adrien could smell the scalding tension in the atmosphere, his optics opening to see the narrowed, golden gaze, of Marinette's companion.

"Marinette… Did you know that he only ever sleeps in your lap,"

"No, I had no idea-"

"Did you know that he only ever eats the food that you offer to him? And when I go to check on them every night, he's always sleeping in the same place, right in front of the front door where he saw your left. Marinette, he's a one-person kind of cat. And it's very clear that the one person he wants to be his owner is you." Alya declared. Marinette was speechless, with her jaw half-way dropped and her eyes furiously blinking, Alya decided to continue just a little long. "I can't keep one-person kind of cats in the cafe, because I know it breaks their hearts in two to see their beloveds leave every day and sometimes they never even return. Some cats don't mind the come and go but him," Alya pointed to the feline seated atop the legs of the vet in complete adoration of the tender strokers that were being massaged onto the back of his neck and hackles. "Look at him, Marinette, he completely adores you. I know his type, and I'll bet you twenty bucks if you leave for more than a few days, he'll go back to the same stressed state that we got him in." She finished.

"Alya… I'm sorry, but I'm just too busy for another responsibility, besides you know I've got hamsters and with my job, it's hard for me to even catch a break at the end of the day."

"And that's why you need a cat! You spend your entire day operating and healing other people's pets, isn't it time that you actually cared for one of your own. Come on Marinette, you live alone cooped in that apartment that, although not that bad, keeps you holed up all night. You even stopped coming to the concerts and friendly dinners that Nico and I set up for our friends from high school."

"No, Alya. I'm sorry, I just can't." Marinette finished, she plucked the ebon cat from her lap, displacing him swiftly onto the floor. In a daze, Adrien whipped his gaze around to her back and the frantic skidding of her shoes against the polished wooden floor.

 _"_ _Wait_ _…_ _Don_ _'_ _t go,_ _"_ He wished he could say, his paw outstretched, his claws finding purchase on the fabric of her denim jeans around her ankles. Never had Marinette seen such peridot optics express yearning so much as the moment when she gazed at the kitten that clung to her heels that afternoon and it tore her heart in two to have to leave. Why? She didn't even know the true reason herself. Perhaps it was the responsibility, perhaps it was her erratic schedule, or perhaps it was the fear of the company her heart weeped to achieve with someone, something. The fear of commitment, yet to why this cat struck her with the flashing images of a wedding ring, she had no idea.

Those bluebell eyes faltered, and once wide with surprise now began tremble with the heartache of her soul before she turned her head away. He let go of her by accident and Marinette stole that opportunity to bolt for the door back to her office, back to that stainless steel scent and white walls of the medical room, her on familiarity of home while abandoning the hurt cat in the cafe, his eyes never left the windowsill that night and she felt those crestfallen orbs burn into the back of her neck as she receded into her car and drove away.

. . .

Several days passed, kissing the conclusion of a week. The cafe was absent of sight of those bluebell eyes, the echo of her laugher, the room no longer glowed with the beam of her smile. Adrien played close by Alya's side every night where she would dial his lady's number once, twice, three times per night with no answer, the monotonous croak of the unanswered device would warp his dreams every night. Then, Adrien had a haunting thought; What if she was actually in danger? It wasn't wrong to think such thoughts after a week of unanswered calls, texts, and voice messages from none other than her best friend, Alya. It was plausible to maybe think that…

Chat Noir waited that night until Alya had finally been laid to rest. Soundly slumbering across the leather of the couch with a blanket over her frame, her hand was emptied of a fallen phone that sat atop the carpeted floor not two inches from her curled fingers.

With his muscular feline body, he dragged a petite, light wooden chair by the ankle of its front leg between his small jowls. The stool did was soundless against the wooden floor due to the patches of felt beneath its feet, a necessity if one were not to ruin the fastidious, exquisite polish work preformed on the wood. Adjusting the stool to align well in front of the locks, Adrien gracefully leaped atop the cushioned stool, assuming position with his back legs so that his forepaws could flip down the first brass lock and carefully slide the chain passed its socket, leaving it dangling from its perch on the oak door. He leaned down to his final obstacle; The door knob. It was just as tricky for other cats as it was for him in this form anyway. Adrien proceeded with caution, his forepaws finding a firm grip on the sleek brass on each sides of its radius and slowly turned. The door opened outwards, thank heavens, and with a solid push to the door frame, it open only slightly, the well oiled barrier barley even whispered as it was parted just enough to allow a crevice for the slender black cat to sneak out of the house. And down he bounded off from the stool, slowly closing the door behind him with a soft push of his backlog, leaving the door suspiciously unlocked.

Chat Noir bounded over the roofs of houses, galloping of the rough plates and leaping across the distances between them. He caught her scent and catalogued it well and from the data of his sharp, feline nose she was close by after the thirty minute outing. His night vision illuminated Paris into full view with the aid of the beautiful, dazzling light show from the Ifieall tower. However, this was no time to admire the wonderful view, tis was the time to quest for his lady, his sweet Marinette.

The scent intensified, his tracks coming to a halt at the backyard of an animal hospital. However, Chat couldn't tell from the back and thought nothing of the multiple dog houses that nestled themselves around the perimeter of a Hercules, six foot, chain linked fence. The only thought on his mind was Marinette, his usually precautions thrown out the window as his sense of smell lost the taste of danger. It was quiet, in the fenced back yard, the only sounds exiting from behind the blinded windows of the hospital where the lights were on and glowing with the thudding of equipment, footsteps, and whining patients of fauna. He leaped down from the grey, slate rooftop, arriving at the foot of the back entrance and faced with a high, silver doorknob. His tail flicked, analyzing the nature of the knob before his nose finally awoke and informed him of some alarming news. _Dogs_ _…_ _The smell of dogs_.

Sirens were triggered in his head, synapses firing of warning of danger, his heart rate skyrocketing when he turned his head back to see the eerie open entrances of the large wooden houses. With his night vision, he could see all too clearly the outlines of large, short coats and fur soundly asleep atop the soft cloths and cushions inside the houses. There were seven houses in all. Four spread out behind him and three on the rest of the two flanks of the large yard. The residents of these houses were no doubt large dogs and he knew if he made a single trip, a single mistake, Chat would have to face the snarling teeth and the foaming mouths of these monsters, and he could not shift back to his human form to escape this time.

This was dangerous, as this time he did not have a stool to aid him.

 _"_ _Please, please be unlocked_ _…"_ Chat prayed, and took a leap of faith, literally. With the power of his hind legs, the feline vaulted himself off the ground, his haunches now parallel with the doorknob in midair. With all the force in his forelimbs he twisted the knob with ten pad of his paws, but rather than the decisive click of success, there was only a hollow clout of metal. It was locked.

 _"_ _Shit_ _…"_ He hissed between his teeth. That thwack had been loud enough that he felt a multitude of looming entities stirring. Gruff snorts and growls sounded from behind him followed by the rustles of midnight grass and the eerie snap of a lone twig. Staged center in the spotlight of the backdoor emergency beam, Chat had nowhere to hide. From shadows emerged snarling ivory teeth and the ominous glow of yellow eyes. Adrien could feel the heat of their breath from their parted maws, panting with eager as they licked their chapped jowls. There were pit bulls, dobermans, and even Rottweilers that came forth almost as if materializing their forms out of the darkness itself. Many eyed his motions, inhaling his scent from a distance as they crept forward, communing to each other in avid, fervent whines. Chat Noir backed himself against the wall instinctively, crouching low against the solid door as his eyes darted around frantically for an escape route. His optics found view on the chain linked fences. He could climb them and escape if he was fast enough… But only _if_ he was fast enough.


	3. Curiosity Almost Killed the Cat

**Death: Heya guyss! Hope chu are enjoying this fic! Thank you sooo much for the support, favs, follows, and reviews! I always apprieciate such wonderful feedback from fans! This chapter is actually VERY GORY, so be warned! But for those who love that kinda stuff you will not be disapointed becuase my my did I put my time and effort into making that splendor! XD Sorry for the delay with this one, after this I will be sure to be uploading more frequently from now on!**

 **Oh, and before I get some raging reviews, ADRIEN/CHAT NOIR IS NOT GOING TO DIE! Rest assured that there is no actual murder in this fic!**

* * *

He bolted as fast as his feline limbs could propel. The impulse from his limbs ripped the dark emerald blades from their covets and scattered the late night's dew among the soil while the others clung to the fibers of his pelt as he surged towards the chain linked fence. Swift limbs scissored through the fresh grass, his figure nothing but an abyssal blur under the cover of darkness. Ligaments and tendons ebbed and bent to their full potential, amplifying the propulsion of every stride. Chat Noir continued to speed across the large yard like a phantom in the night, and wove his slender frame around the snapping of gristly jowls, dodging the flashes of white ivories just inches behind his tail. The cacophony of barks began their crescendo, resonating to summon more hounds to the mission as the bites, snaps, and growls inched closer and closer, trampling his trail in the tall grass, their breath on his heels.

Approaching the chain linked fence, Chat dug his back claws into the soft, rich soil, craned his haunches and leaped onto the strong iron mesh, five feet above the voracious maws. But, at the beginning of his escalade towards the top, cuspate incisors closed around the length of his tail. He yowled, the pain that rocketed up across his spine halted his escape. He whipped his head around to come face to face with a doberman. Ferocious beaded eyes pierced into his facade, unnerving him all the more as those yellow orbs raised the hackles across his back. The beast wasted no time in tearing him down off the fence, slamming him down against the ground by the length of his tattered tail. Once down, there was no way out for the little cat.

They assaulted him, teeth tearing into his flesh while claws ravaged his fur and skin. He struggled to dodge their savage, snapping maws, but they pounded him with heavy kicks and steps, trampling him under foot. In the fray, he could but only make out nine shadowed canine figures, their menacing white teeth stark against their darkened pelts and shimmering eyes.

A single maw captured his left hind leg, the cuspate fangs piercing through the meat of his thigh and and shredding through the fibers as it pulled back. Chat Noir's nerves screamed as they were being ravaged, sliced and wrenched from their networks while the rest of his tissue were being chewed to shambles. With his wires in a fray, they electrocuted his brain, the signals so dizzying that his conscious began to fade, muting the violent blurry fires.

Another pair of jowls had latched themselves onto his right arm, vicious ivories once more buried themselves into his sinews. His waning conscious could barley decipher the gnashing, the riving of his tissues, the singing of his nerves and the cries his aching body moaned. Everything was slowing around him as black umbrage blurred the fringes of his vision, creeping ever closer to dim his pupils as he felt more and more of his lifeblood bleed from his stores in what could fill vials. And in what he could only decipher to be a sickening crack ascending from his right fore limb, his world finally went black.

"Save me, Marinette…"

. . .

"Ooh! Are you going to be taking the late shift tonight, Marinette?"

"Yeah, I'm so sorry I won't be able to make it to your dinner party tonight, Rose. Hah… And I'm sure your cooking will be no less than delicious as always right?" Marinette sighed, stroking Rose's tawny, homesick little rabbit cradled in her arms before gently lowering it into its comfy abode in her friend's carrying crate.

"No worries, Marinette. You always work so hard, it motives me everyday to come up with new recipes for the restaurant I own! I'll be sure to save you the chef's specialities!" The blond, pixie cut petite assured, sliding the crate off the counter by the handle and holding it at her side before placing her credit card atop the surface of the perch.

"Oh, Rose really you don't have to do that," Marinette pleaded embarrassingly, blushing as she slid the card across the register and pecked at the keyboard log beneath her fingertips.

"Nonsense! You really helped Macaroon recover from his case of the snuffles. It's the least I can do!" Rose was always like this. She was the kind, energetic bundle of fluff, flowers, and innocence since she knew since freshman year and despite all her experience and qualifications, Marinette still couldn't say no to those baby blue eyes.

"Oh… Okay, Rose," Marinate relented with a heavy sigh as she returned the card, which only contributed to the radiant expression on the blonde's face.

"Yay! I won't disappoint you!" She exclaimed, trotting off with her beloved, ginger bunny while waving her goodbyes.

"Say high to Juleka for me!" Marinette added as she too waved her old friend a farewell.

Marinette shortly afterward had retreated to her duties back inside the hospital, softly switching off the lights in the operating rooms, pharmaceutical storage, and the sleeping chambers of the pets. The facility was a small, quaint emergency animal hospital and clinic, the two sides of opposing wings and specialties. She was aware of a few nurses that were still holding down the night shift with her, occasionally on break or tending to the animals at this time due to the deserted patient counter, but for now, the lone veterinarian roamed the halls alone, looking to the clock for company as it read 9:00pm.

"Just four more hours to go until home, huh?" A sigh escaped her curved lips as she continued down the hall towards her sleepy, overnight patients in waiting.

For the first hour, Marinette performed the routine bandage changes for many of the wounded patients, making sure to examine the crevices of their stitches or tissues of their healing wounds for any signs of infection before rewrapping them in fresh white gauze once more. With no emergency surgeries at the moment, Marinette used her time on the clock to do several routine checks in the kennel room to make sure her coworkers' patients were on track to a safe and speedy way to recover. The raven haired wonder was just in the middle of rewrapping the arm of a wounded chihuahua pup just as barking had sounded right outside the backyard door to her left. Thinking nothing of it, she simply shrugged and carried on with her patient. Then, the barks intensified, growing into a wild cacophony of hostile growls, yelps, and howls.

"Keep it down you guys," She shushed through the door. The big dogs in question were all going through rehabilitation in addition to being rescues the facility had been fostering at the mean time for an animal shelter. They were usually so calm and quiet, Marinette couldn't help but wonder what was outside. Swiftly finishing her session with the dreary and tired lap dog, the vet was just as happy to return him to his warm and fuzzy bed just as she was to be finally finished with the night's sweep. However, it also seemed like the perfect time for the hellish pandemonium outside to explode in a disarray of shrieks and yowls. Marinette's eyes widened as the alert, alarmed barking had morphed into a vicious uproar of snarls and the sound of succor-like snapping jowls. Not sparing a second to waste, Marinette dashed to the door, her hand cocking over the knob of the handle as she turned it and and swung open the frame.

"Hey! What's going on here? Daisy! Dillion! Paris!" She shouted. Her eyes rapidly adjusting to the night's murk with the aid of an automatic overhead light above the oak frame. She witnessed all ten of the rescues coagulating at an area near the fence post, cornering whatever they had found and taking turns at snapping, biting, and gnashing at whatever their discovery was. Marinette hurriedly scampered out the back door towards the canines, the grip of her right hand coiled tight around a five inch long, silver dog whistle. She held it to her lips and blasted a gust of air from her own breath straight through metallic body of the whistle. While inaudible to her ears, the announcement, it seemed was made loud and clear among the canines whom froze dead in their findings and whipped their heads around to her, their ears respectfully docked, forward, and eyes guilty with their tails tucked between their stilts.

"Back-back you guys. What were you getting at?" She dismissed them, the dogs promptly returning to their shelters and beds as they trotted past her, occasionally requesting her to give them a goodnight pet on the head as they scampered off to their sleep. Horror struck her face when the obscurity of muzzles and fur receded, the veil of the night exposed what lay in front of the corner's crevice.

"Chat? Chat?!" The clamor trembling as they tumbled from her lips in a quaking echo while she hastened towards the cat. It was a marvel that even despite the desecration, she could still identify the disheveled heap of tousled black fur and shredded flesh as her precious feline rescue.

Crashing onto her knees beside the cat, she immediately fished for the small flashlight in her alabaster coat pocket. She ignited the torch with the flick of a button, focusing the cone of light on the grievances of his wounds. She held her breath her hand cast the beam over the gruesome, swollen laceration across his ribs, the gnashed slashes contorted by the gaping punctures that scourged his pelt, the fresh blood that oozed from the openings shimmering under the synthetic spotlight. The soft wisps of steam that misted above the warm caverns of his lesions pricked her at her tear ducts for the sacred crystalline liquid and succeeded; Their triumph was the single droplet that quenched young grass roots beneath her quaking feet.

The beacon slowly transversed down to what was left of his right arm; A mauled, splintered stake of bone, laundering a sheet of mangled flesh embedded with cuspate, ossein shards. Marinette angled the torch away, now concentrating the beam atop his left hind leg. A grotesque, raw stub void of its sister lower half below the kneecap. Bluebell eyes could almost rewind to a grisly scene of the violent tugging that caused the sickening pop of the joint as it was severed from the patellar hinge of his knee. The gaping, open socket still moist from the congealed, vitreous fluid stared at her, as if imbrued eyes would sprout from such lurid bereft. Marinette's chest began to, seize her breath ragged from the panicked contractions her torso was succumbing to as a quaking hand traveled upwards towards the closed lids of the feline. The veterinarian angled the luminescence to follow the course of her fingertips, gentle limbs slowly pried open the soft, obsidian lids of the cat, her respiration in suspension as the glare was casted over the pupil. Her reprieve tumbled out of her maw in one gargantuan exhale, her breath relaxing as relief washed across her limbs. Shrugging her lab coat off her shoulders, she gently blanketed the alabaster cloth over the Chat, lifting his limp body off the ground wrapped in the gauze of her fabrics, cradled by her warm embrace.

Bursting through the back door, she bolted to the PA of the recover room, jabbing the red button with her thumb and leaning in to the speaker.

"Calling all medical staff to to operating room thirteen! I repeat, this an emergency surgery, the patient is in need of immediate attention, all medical staff to the operating room, please!" She hoped, prayed to to every being out there in her mind that someone, anyone in the building would be there as she rushed to the designated operating room

"Marinette? I heard your announcement, what's the emergency?" Mylene inquired, the vet tech cocking her head as she rushed to prepare the sanitized surgical tools.

"Oh, thank god it's you Mylene! I thought everyone had gone home by now." Marinette sighed, expelling a hefty exhale from her mouth before gently laying Chat on the operating table. "He's an adult cat that had recently mauled on by out large rescue dogs in the back." Blue bell eyes darted to and fro the equipment, her fingertips as swift as a crane, snatching metallic scalpels, saws, and saws like river minnows plucked from the soft currents of a stream and placing them upon the covered, stainless steel top. Mylene joined her, flicking on the observation light and angling it to spotlight the degree of horrification that had been done to the feline.

"Hah… prepare yourself, Mylene. It's gonna be a long night…"

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 **Death: Hope chu all have enjoyed that descriptive gory masterpiece! XD I always love a good review escpecially in response to my chapters! Lemme know what you guys think! Next chapter will be out soon so stay tuned!**


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